OGDEN — Ogden Regional Medical Center has a brand new inpatient rehabilitation unit for people who require comprehensive services.

The Acute Rehabilitation unit, which opened three months ago, provides a variety of services including speech, physical, occupational and respiratory therapy and a 24-hour nursing staff.

Studies have shown that those who are treated in an inpatient facility tend to do better when they return home and also have lower hospital readmission rates, said Dr. Sean Anderson, medical director of the rehab unit.

“For stroke patients specifically, there was an analysis conducted by the American Heart and American Stroke Association in 2015 studying patients’ outcomes and comparing the different post-acute services,” Anderson said.

The study, he added, found that patients who went to acute inpatient rehabilitation generally had higher functional scores and experienced more optimal functional gains.

“The most common things we see are strokes and brain injuries, but we also have people who have suffered from spinal cord injuries, have multiple major fractures related to motor vehicle accidents or people who are recovering from sepsis or other major illnesses and are too weak and deconditioned to return home,” he said.

According to Anderson, the average length of stay is typically 10-12 days, but is very patient specific and dependent on multiple factors. After patients have completed their acute stay, they still may be unable to return home.

“The majority of our patients admitted to acute rehab are discharged home or an assisted living facility and continue rehabilitation with home health services in the home environment or outpatient therapy if they have transportation services available,” Anderson said.

There are many differences between skilled nursing homes and acute rehabilitation centers, Anderson said. The biggest difference is the intensity of the therapy. Another difference, he said, is the accessibility of physician involvement on inpatient rehab and the daily rounding of one of more physicians or specialists who are providing care, adjusting medications and optimizing medical management.

“We do occasionally discharge patients to a skilled nursing facility or long-term care facility if, for whatever reason, they are unable to accomplish the goals we have set with them or the support we anticipated family would provide for them in-home disappears and going home is unsafe for the patient,” he said.

Newsletter